What Advertising Can and Can't Do For You
What Advertising Can and Can't Do For You
Mostly, advertising is misused and misunderstood. A lot of
people confuse "marketing" with "advertising." Advertising is a
part of marketing, but not the whole thing! The downside of the
"misunderstanding" is that small businesses look at this as
their only means of getting sales for their business. Many
times, the result is miss-spent money with little to show in
return.
Advertising can be most effective when you are selling a
mass-market product like laundry detergent or coke. However,
many small and home owned businesses sell more of a specialized
product or services that appeals to a much smaller "niche"
market. To understand what can work for you, lets first clear up
a few myths about what advertising is:
Myth 1: Advertising is what you have to do to get business.
Advertising is simply the purchase of time or space in order to
promote a product or service. There are many other marketing
methods available such as publicity, promotions, signage and
referral programs that could work better for your business.
Myth 2: Advertising is too expensive for small business. It
doesn't have to be. You can find very cost effective advertising
methods through local community papers, classifieds, "zoning" in
your main papers local section (to hit certain zip codes only),
industry newsletters and small ads that are placed repeatedly in
the same spot of the paper. Cable TV can be targeted and
cost-effective as well.
Myth 3: There is only one best advertising method. Just like
investing in the stock market, it is important to diversify. You
don't want to put all of your eggs into one basket, at least
until you find what works best for you. There can be a lot of
trial and error, which means that it's crucial to have some type
of results mechanism in order to see what works and what
doesn't. Sample several approaches all at once, once you have
narrowed down the field to those you feel worthy. You will then
find the best one or two methods that work for you. This also
tells you to avoid any long-term contract with any media outlet
until they have been proven a good source. You can even
sometimes strike a bargain with a particular media source that
you are interested in to allow you to "test" response at a
reduced rate.
Myth 4: You only have to advertise on a limited basis. The
success of advertising is all about "frequency." It can take up
to 5 times before anyone notices your ad, then 10 or more times
before they might act on it. Therefore, you have to have enough
money in your budget to test the ad over time. Remember that we
are exposed to hundreds of ads a day. As a result, we act like
"screeners", filtering out any information not useful to us. So,
blowing your advertising budget on one 1/2 page ad in your local
paper will surely not produce the results you are looking for.
Myth 5: Advertising does all the work for you. You can't place
your ad, then sit back and wait for the phones to ring.
Advertising is not a passive way to get business. The more
active you are in promoting your business through a variety of
marketing activities, the more effective your advertising will
be. Plus, your promotion activities will greatly enhance your
advertising efforts. Most ads produce leads from people that are
interested. Therefore, you have to have your follow up messages
in place. One of the key factors in this is to have your entire
staff be knowledgeable of every ad that is placed, where, when
and what their response should be. If someone calls to get more
information about your ad, but the person who answers the phone
knows little to nothing about it, bang. Dead lead. Have your
staff be well prepared to answer all questions.
When a small business should advertise: *When your target market
is reachable by one or more media.
*When your target market is a decent sized mass-market.
*When this is one of the only ways you can reach prospects.
*When you are moving into a new market.
*When your budget permits for frequency.
*When you can reach the most people who can and will buy your
product or service through cost effective advertising.
*When your competition does.
When your competition doesn't.
When a small business should not advertise:
*When it is not cost effective for the return on your investment.
*When your budget will not permit repetition.
*When you expect the adverting will bring in customers by the
hundreds.
*When advertising will be your only method of reaching your
market.
*When your advertising will be far less than your competition.
*When you cannot afford to have professional ads done.